Evaporation source of vacuum coating machine
Through flexible splicing structure and adjusting the thermal power of the heating source, the stability and energy consumption problems of large-sized crucibles in vacuum evaporation are solved, and the uniformity and energy efficiency of the evaporation process are improved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202323452715.4
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2023-12-18
- Publication Date
- 2024-12-31
- Estimated Expiration
- 2033-12-18
AI Technical Summary
In the existing vacuum evaporation technology, it is difficult to make large-size linear crucibles, uneven heating power distribution leads to warping and rupture, high evaporation temperature leads to increased energy consumption and thermal radiation problems, and long strip evaporation sources are difficult to adjust the film thickness uniformly. sex.
The crucible monomer is connected into a large-sized crucible by using the surface tension of the evaporated material to prevent leakage, and the thermal power and radiation loss of the heating source are adjusted through the baffle and multi-layer insulation structure to achieve accurate adjustment of the evaporation speed.
It realizes the stability and long service life of large-sized crucibles, reduces energy consumption, and improves the uniformity and scope of application of the evaporation process.
Smart Images
Figure CN222274664U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The utility model relates to an evaporation source of a vacuum coating machine, in particular to an evaporation source of a large-size vacuum coating machine with a regulating function. Background Art
[0002] Vacuum evaporation is widely used to plate various metal, alloy and compound films, and is applied to industrial fields such as optics, electronics, semiconductors, solar energy utilization, light industry and decoration. Vapor deposition is an earlier and more widely used vapor deposition technology, with the advantages of simple film forming method, high film purity and density, unique film structure and performance, etc. The materials used for vacuum evaporation are called evaporation materials.
[0003] Generally, the evaporation raw material source is placed in the evaporation source crucible. After being heated by the heating source, the evaporation raw material vaporizes and deposits on the surface of the substrate. The uniformity of evaporation is the key factor that determines whether the coating thickness is uniform. The more common materials of the evaporation source crucible are high-temperature resistant ceramics and high-temperature resistant metal materials.
[0004] There are the following problems in the evaporation process:
[0005] 1. It is difficult to make a large-sized linear crucible. When the heating power distribution is not uniform or the thermal expansion coefficient of the evaporating raw material and the crucible is very different, the crucible is prone to warping and cracking, and it is difficult to ensure uniform evaporation in the length direction.
[0006] 2. The evaporation temperature is high, and the part of the evaporation source that is not filled with evaporation raw materials is also in a high temperature state, which will radiate a large amount of energy to the surrounding area, resulting in large heat loss, and also increase the energy consumption of the evaporation process. In addition, the thermal radiation will also cause heat baking to the surrounding substrate or materials.
[0007] 3. Long strip evaporation sources are mostly used for continuous winding coating. The length of the long strip evaporation source is similar to the width of the film to be coated. The number of evaporation sources required is small, simple and reliable. However, since the evaporation source area corresponding to the edge of the film to be coated is small, the coating thickness is often thin, resulting in a large difference in the coating thickness in the width direction of the film, requiring a large correction and adjustment capability, which is difficult to achieve.
[0008] Therefore, it is particularly necessary to develop a vacuum coating evaporation source that solves the above problems. Utility Model Content
[0009] The purpose of the utility model is to provide an evaporation source for a vacuum coating machine, which can make the size of the evaporation crucible unrestricted, will not cause cracking and warping problems during long-term use, is safe and convenient to add materials, reduces the energy consumption of evaporation, and can conveniently and effectively adjust the evaporation speed of different crucible positions.
[0010] The utility model provides an evaporation source of a vacuum coating machine, comprising a crucible body, a heating source and an external heat-insulating structure, characterized in that the crucible body is composed of crucible monomers spliced together, the crucible monomers are connected by a flexible splicing structure with non-sealed splicing gaps to form an evaporation material accommodating space, and the surface tension of the evaporation material is used to prevent it from leaking out of the accommodating space along the splicing gaps.
[0011] Furthermore, the crucible body is composed of two or more crucible monomers; the crucible body is in the shape of an elongated strip or a circle; the circular crucible body is formed by flexibly splicing a plurality of sectors; the elongated crucible body is formed by splicing the crucible monomers at both ends and the crucible monomer in the middle, the crucible monomers at both ends are L-shaped cross-sections with one end closed, the middle crucible monomer is a straight-line cross-section with both ends not closed, and the crucible monomers at both ends are arranged relatively.
[0012] Preferably, the flexible splicing structure is a mortise and tenon structure, a buckle structure, or a limiting structure.
[0013] Furthermore, the splicing gap between the crucible monomers of the flexible splicing structure is 0.3 mm-2 mm.
[0014] Preferably, the splicing gap between the crucible monomers of the flexible splicing structure is 0.5 mm-1 mm.
[0015] Preferably, the crucible is made of ceramic, metal or graphite. Further preferably, the ceramic material is aluminum oxide, boron nitride, silicon carbide, etc.; the metal material is tungsten, molybdenum, tantalum, etc.
[0016] Furthermore, the heating source is placed at the bottom or side or both of the bottom and side of the crucible body.
[0017] Preferably, the heating source is a resistance heater, preferably a tungsten wire resistance heater. Further, the tungsten wire resistance heaters are linearly arranged in parallel along the length direction of the crucible body.
[0018] Furthermore, the external heat-insulating structure is composed of multiple layers of heat-resistant and heat-insulating materials. Preferably, the heat-resistant and heat-insulating materials are high-temperature resistant metal materials or high-temperature resistant ceramic materials.
[0019] Furthermore, the external heat-insulating structure is disposed on the side and bottom of the crucible body and the non-evaporation area on the upper part of the crucible body.
[0020] Furthermore, a baffle is provided between the crucible body and the heating source. Preferably, the baffle is made of metal or high-temperature resistant ceramic material, so as to shield and weaken the heating amount at the corresponding position of the crucible body, thereby adjusting the evaporation rate at each position of the crucible body by adjusting the effective evaporation heat power at each position of the crucible body.
[0021] Furthermore, the number of layers of the external insulation structure is different at different positions of the crucible body, so as to adjust the radiation loss heat at the corresponding positions of the crucible body, thereby adjusting the evaporation rate at each position of the crucible body by adjusting the effective evaporation heat power at each position of the crucible body.
[0022] Furthermore, baffles are provided at some positions between the crucible body and the heating source, and the number of layers of the external thermal insulation structure is different at different positions of the crucible body. The above measures are simultaneously used to more accurately adjust the evaporation rate at each position of the crucible body by a method that can more accurately adjust the effective evaporation heat power at each position of the crucible body.
[0023] The utility model proposes an evaporation source for a vacuum coating machine. Firstly, the basic characteristic that the surface tension of liquid evaporation materials is relatively large and it is not easy to enter narrow gaps is cleverly utilized. Two or more crucible monomers are connected through a flexible splicing structure with a non-sealed gap to form a large-sized evaporation material accommodating space by adopting a flexible splicing and fixing method, thereby solving the problems that the shape and size of the current evaporation crucible are limited by the size of the raw materials and cracking and warping caused by uneven heating or different material expansion coefficients; secondly, a baffle is arranged between the flexible evaporation crucible and the linear heating source to shield and weaken the heating amount of the linear heating source on the corresponding position of the crucible body, thereby adjusting the evaporation speed of each position of the crucible body by adjusting the effective evaporation heat power at each position of the crucible body; furthermore, the number of layers of the external heat-insulating structure is different at different positions of the crucible body, thereby adjusting the radiation loss heat of the corresponding position of the crucible body, thereby adjusting the evaporation speed of each position of the crucible body by adjusting the effective evaporation heat power at each position of the crucible body.
[0024] The flexible evaporation crucible for a vacuum coating machine provided by the utility model has the advantages of simple structure, long service life, complete functions and wide application range. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0025] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the utility model or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the utility model. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.
[0026] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of a long strip evaporation source of a vacuum coating machine;
[0027] Figure 2 A is a schematic diagram of the structure of a long strip evaporation source of a vacuum coating machine;
[0028] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram B of the long strip evaporation source structure of the vacuum coating machine;
[0029] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of a circular evaporation source of a vacuum coating machine;
[0030] In the figure, 1 is the crucible body, 2 is the crucible monomer, 3 is the middle crucible monomer, 4 is the heating source, 5 is the baffle, 6 is the external insulation structure, and 7 is the flexible splicing structure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0031] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the utility model to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the utility model. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the utility model, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the utility model, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the utility model.
[0032] When the evaporation material of vacuum coating is metal (such as copper, aluminum, etc.), the metal will first be heated to liquid state during evaporation, and then further heated to evaporate. Liquid metal refers to metal that melts at high temperature, and usually has high electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and chemical stability. Surface tension, also known as liquid surface tension, causes mutual attraction between liquid molecules at the edge of the liquid, causing the liquid surface to shrink to the smallest surface area. Since liquid metals generally have high surface tension, leakage generally does not occur when there is a narrow gap in the evaporation crucible, such as when the width of the opening gap is between 0.3mm-2mm. Based on the above principle, the utility model proposes a flexible splicing evaporation crucible structure. In addition, other non-metallic evaporation materials, as long as they are liquid before evaporation, their tension is often much greater than the surface tension of water, and can also be applied to the design of the utility model. The evaporation material for vacuum coating can also be some solid materials. During vacuum evaporation, such solids sublime after being heated and change directly from solid to gas. At this time, the flexible spliced evaporation crucible structure proposed by the utility model does not require the existence of liquid surface tension and can also prevent leakage of such direct sublimation coating materials.
[0033] The utility model proposes an evaporation source of a vacuum coating machine (such as Figure 1As shown), it includes a crucible body 1, a heating source 4 and an external heat preservation structure, and is characterized in that the crucible body 1 is composed of crucible monomers 2 spliced together, and the crucible monomers 2 are connected by a flexible splicing structure with a non-sealed splicing gap to form an evaporation material storage space, and the surface tension of the evaporation material is used to prevent it from leaking out of the storage space along the splicing gap. The crucible body 1 is composed of two or more crucible monomers 2, and the crucible body 1 is in the shape of a long strip or a circle; the circular crucible body is formed by a plurality of fans flexibly spliced together (such as Figure 4 The long crucible body is formed by splicing the crucible monomers at both ends and the crucible monomer in the middle (as shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown in the figure, the two-end crucible monomer 2 is an L-shaped cross section with one end closed, and the middle crucible monomer 3 is a straight cross section with both ends open. The two-end crucible monomers 2 are arranged relatively, and the two-end crucible monomers 2 and the middle crucible monomer 3 are fixedly connected by a flexible splicing structure 7 with gaps to form an evaporation material accommodation space, and the surface tension of the evaporation material is used to prevent it from leaking out of the accommodation space along the splicing gap. Preferably, the flexible splicing structure 7 is a mortise and tenon structure, a buckle structure, or a limit structure. The splicing gap between the crucible monomers of the flexible splicing structure is 0.3mm-2mm, preferably 0.5mm-1mm. Such a gap size can not only prevent the evaporation material from entering the gap under the action of tension and causing leakage, but also make the cooperation between the crucible monomers constituting the crucible body relatively loose, which can adapt to larger macroscopic (positions between the crucible monomers) flexible deformation, so that a large-sized crucible body can be spliced to form a long crucible evaporation source with more than 10 or even 20 crucible monomers and a total length of more than 2 meters or even 3 meters. The large-sized crucible evaporation source can meet more application fields; at the same time, these gap sizes can also avoid crushing damage due to thermal expansion and contraction, and reduce the processing matching accuracy requirements. It should be pointed out that the utility model only covers a limited number of structural types, and all types of flexible splicing structures 7 fall within the protection scope of the utility model. Since the metal evaporation raw material melts into liquid when heated and has a large surface tension, even if the flexible splicing structure 7 is used, there is only a small gap at the splicing position and no leakage will occur; the solid evaporation material is sublimated into gas when heated, and the flexible splicing structure 7 is used, and since the gap at the splicing position is small, no leakage will occur either. The crucible evaporation source using the flexible splicing structure 7 is not limited in size and shape, can meet different evaporation use requirements, and has a wider range of applications.
[0034] Preferably, the crucible body 1 is made of ceramic, metal or graphite, which is selected according to the characteristics of the evaporated material. For example, the crucible body is made of ceramic such as aluminum oxide, boron nitride, silicon carbide, etc., and the metal material is tungsten, molybdenum, tantalum, etc.
[0035] The heating source 4 is placed at the bottom or side or the bottom and side of the crucible body. The heating source 4 is a resistance heater, preferably a tungsten wire resistance heater. Further, the tungsten wire resistance heater is arranged linearly and parallelly along the length direction of the crucible body. When the heat radiated by the linear radiation heating source 4 is uneven, but the thickness of the evaporated film layer is required to be uniform, or the heat radiated by the linear radiation source 4 is uniform, but the thickness of the evaporated film layer at different positions is required to be different, a baffle 5 (such as Figure 2 As shown), preferably, the baffle 5 is made of metal or high-temperature resistant ceramic material, and is used to shield and weaken the heating amount of the linear heating source to the corresponding position of the crucible body, so as to adjust the evaporation rate of each position of the crucible body by adjusting the effective evaporation heat power at each position of the crucible body, so as to achieve the purpose of regulating the heat radiated by the heating source 4 to the crucible body 1. In actual application, the number of baffles 5 and the relative position to the crucible body 1 can be adjusted according to demand, for example, the number of baffles 5 is set to 3. It should be pointed out that the number and arrangement position of other baffles 5 fall within the protection scope of the utility model.
[0036] The external insulation structure 6 is composed of multiple layers of heat-resistant and heat-insulating materials. Preferably, the heat-resistant and heat-insulating materials are high-temperature resistant metal materials or ceramic materials. The external insulation structure 6 is placed on the side, bottom and non-evaporation area of the crucible body 1 (the top insulation structure is not shown in this figure for the sake of simplicity). The multi-layered external insulation structure 6 is used to prevent heat loss as much as possible. The multi-layered external insulation structure 6 can effectively block the outward dissipation of heat layer by layer, reduce energy consumption, and effectively improve energy utilization and heating efficiency.
[0037] The number of layers of the external heat-insulating structure is different at different positions of the crucible body, so as to adjust the radiation loss heat at the corresponding positions of the crucible body, thereby adjusting the evaporation rate at each position of the crucible body by adjusting the effective evaporation heat power at each position of the crucible body. By adjusting the input radiation heat energy and radiation loss heat at different positions of the crucible at the same time, the evaporation rate at different positions of the crucible can be adjusted more accurately.
[0038] In some cases, it is necessary to adjust the baffle and the external insulation structure at the same time to adjust the evaporation rate at different positions of the crucible body. A baffle 5 is provided at a portion of the position between the crucible body 1 and the heating source 4, and the number of layers of the external insulation structure 6 is different at different positions of the crucible body 1 (e.g. Figure 2 As shown), the above measures are simultaneously used to more accurately adjust the evaporation speed at each position of the crucible body 1 by a method that can more accurately adjust the effective evaporation heat power at each position of the crucible body 1.
[0039] The evaporation source of the vacuum coating machine proposed in the utility model has the following beneficial effects:
[0040] 1. The use of flexible splicing structure can make the shape and size of the evaporation crucible unrestricted, the crucible material is easy to obtain, and even if the heating distribution is not uniform or the material expansion coefficient is greatly different, it will not crack or warp after long-term use, and the service life is long;
[0041] 2. A baffle is arranged between the flexible evaporation crucible and the linear heating source according to the needs to adjust the input radiation heat energy received by different positions of the evaporation crucible, thereby meeting different evaporation needs and having a wide range of applications;
[0042] 3. The multi-layer external insulation structure covers the sides, front and rear sides and the bottom, which can effectively block the heat loss layer by layer, reduce energy consumption, and effectively improve energy utilization and heating efficiency.
[0043] 4. By adjusting the position and number of baffles and external insulation structures, the evaporation rate at different positions of the crucible body can be adjusted.
[0044] It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the precise structure described above and shown in the drawings, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present invention is limited only by the appended claims.
Claims
1. An evaporation source of a vacuum coating machine, comprising a crucible body, an evaporation material, a heating source and an external heat preservation structure, characterized in that: The crucible body is composed of crucible monomers spliced together, and the crucible monomers are connected by a flexible splicing structure with a non-sealed splicing gap to form an evaporation material accommodating space, and the surface tension of the evaporation material is used to prevent it from leaking out of the accommodating space along the splicing gap.
2. The evaporation source of a vacuum coating machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The crucible body is composed of two or more crucible monomers; the crucible body is in the shape of an elongated strip or a circle; the circular crucible body is formed by flexibly splicing a plurality of sectors; the elongated crucible body is formed by splicing the crucible monomers at both ends and the crucible monomer in the middle, the crucible monomers at both ends are L-shaped cross-sections with one end closed, the middle crucible monomer is a straight-line cross-section with both ends not closed, and the crucible monomers at both ends are arranged relatively.
3. The evaporation source of a vacuum coating machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The flexible splicing structure is a mortise and tenon structure, a buckle structure or a limiting structure.
4. The evaporation source of a vacuum coating machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The splicing gap between the crucible monomers of the flexible splicing structure is 0.3mm-2mm.
5. The evaporation source of a vacuum coating machine according to claim 3, characterized in that: The splicing gap between the crucible monomers of the flexible splicing structure is 0.5mm-1mm.
6. The evaporation source of a vacuum coating machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The crucible monomer is made of ceramic material, metal material or graphite material.
7. The evaporation source of a vacuum coating machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The heating source is placed at the bottom or the side or the bottom and the side of the crucible body.
8. The evaporation source of a vacuum coating machine according to claim 7, characterized in that: The heating source is a resistance heater.
9. The evaporation source of a vacuum coating machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The external thermal insulation structure is composed of multiple layers of heat-resistant and heat-insulating materials.
10. The evaporation source of a vacuum coating machine according to claim 9, characterized in that: The external heat-insulating structure is disposed on the side and bottom of the crucible body and the non-evaporation area on the upper part of the crucible body.
11. The evaporation source of a vacuum coating machine according to claim 8, characterized in that: A baffle is provided at a portion of the position between the crucible body and the heating source.
12. The evaporation source of a vacuum coating machine according to claim 10, characterized in that: The number of layers of the external heat-insulating structure is different at different positions of the crucible body.
13. The evaporation source of a vacuum coating machine according to claim 8 or 10, characterized in that: A baffle is provided at a portion of the position between the crucible body and the heating source, and the number of layers of the external heat-insulating structure is different at different positions of the crucible body.